Running light covers

[Dianne Graf]

Hello,
I'm a proud owner of a 1999 13ft Scamp.
I lost a running light cover and another is broken.
Should I replace the covers or is now the time to replace with LED lights? Is it more complicated then what it's worth.
Thanks for your thoughts
Dianne

[Meadowlark]

We had a running light cover break on our 2011 Casita. The guys at the RV shop said, everyone uses the same style, it's called "Winnebago". They didn't sell the lens itself, you had to buy the entire unit. Which wasn't expensive, really.
In our case, we used 12v bulbs. If I were to do it again, I'd use LEDs, but I don't know if that requires rewiring it?
If so, I'm the wrong person to ask, I'm a field biologist, not an electrician. And quite honestly, the amount of juice it takes to run the 12v light bulb for the relatively short amount of time you have the running lights on, I doubt there's much in difference in the amount of electricity used in either one.

[Terry in Fowler]

If you can find the covers just replace the bulb with led bulbs. Cheap an easy. Some require correct polarity others don't. I purchased mine from Amazon 8 years ago.

[CharlesinGA]

If they use bulbs it is probably a 194/168 style. I bought a bunch of 194 cob style from Superbright LEDs (probably the only time I didn't buy from M4 Products) the bulbs work well but are polarity sensitive and if they don't work, pull them out and reinsert them the opposite way.

I bought ten, planned on using them for the tag light on my older RAM but the can bus system didn't like them and would not power them up.

I did install one on the new tag light fixture I installed on my trailer (and tested it for polarity before installing), and used one in the dome light on my old Ranger (mucho brighter!). The LEDs will fail eventually so buying dedicated fixtures are not a good idea. I want replaceable lamps. I used these on the marker lights on a Thor trailer I had. Even with me blanking out the tag, I think you still get the idea how bright it is. I did add aluminum tape inside to act as a reflector.

Charles

[John LF]

I like camping in out of the way places that often have rough roads. My original running lights were requiring a few whacks frequently to keep them working and one of the lenses was cracked. Several years ago I replaced them with something similar to these. https://tinyurl.com/mryxpa84. They have a protective metal frame and rugged glass lenses. They have never failed to work and stay lit on the roughest of roads. I expect them to last decades. About double the price of the cheap plastic ones, but still less than $10/each
Installation is very simple. You just have to attach the wires to the existing circuit being sure to do so with the correct polarity. (if you get it wrong it will not damage anything. Just reverse the wires)You might have to drill a couple holes to attach them to the shell.